The Boston Globe - 19.09.2019

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 The Boston Globe B7

Business

By Larry Edelman
GLOBE STAFF
Federal Reserve officials agree that
the economy is in good shape, with a
strong job market and low inflation.
They just can’t agree on how to keep it

that way.

Central bankers on Wednesday ap-

proved a quarter-point reduction in

interest rates, the second cut in seven

weeks intended to inoculate the Unit-

ed States from an ailing global econo-

my and rising trade tensions. The

move will mean lower borrowing

costs for consumers and businesses

but will trim already paltry interest

rates on savings.

The rate drop, to a range of 1.75

percent to 2 percent, was widely ex-

pected by investors, but some were

disappointed that the Fed didn’t sig-

nal it would quickly follow up with

more reductions. Fed chairman Je-

rome Powell said policy makers would

closely monitor the job market, infla-

tion and growth data, financial mar-

kets, and global developments to de-

termine their next step.

“Sometimes the path ahead is

clear, sometimes less so,” he said at a

news conference after the Fed

wrapped up its two-day policy meet-

ing in Washington. “We will act ap-

FEDERAL RESERVE, Page B10

By Rebecca Robbins
STAT
Nonprofits seeking to advance
medical research have long oper-
ated from a standard playbook,
soliciting grant proposals
from academic scientists
and then funding the
most promising ones.
But, increasingly, medical phi-
lanthropies are going the way of
venture capitalist firms by making
equity investments in therapeu-

tics companies. The latest exam-

ple? The Christopher & Dana

Reeve Foundation, which an-

nounced this week that it wants to

raise a $50 million fund to start

investing in companies working

on treatments for spinal-cord in-

juries.

The goal of the new venture

philanthropy model is to more

quickly help patients like the late

actor Christopher Reeve, for

whom the nonprofit is named, but

it also comes with plenty of risk in

a field of research that’s seen far

more disappointments than suc-

cesses.

The Reeve Foundation aims to

raise its new investment fund

within the next 18 to 24 months;

it expects much of the initial fund-

ing to come from individuals and

families with a personal connec-

tion to spinal-cord injury, accord-

ing to the foundation’s president

and CEO, Peter Wilderotter.

(Christopher Reeve embraced pa-

tient advocacy after a horseback-

riding injury that left his arms

and legs paralyzed.)

Once the fund is up and run-

ning, the foundation will look to

take stakes in existing companies

or help jump-start new ones

working on several approaches to

treating spinal-cord injuries: elec-

trical stimulation of the spinal

REEVE, Page B10

By Jonathan Saltzman

GLOBE STAFF

Quick: What’s the most valuable venture-

backed startup in Boston?

Hint: If you don’t follow biotech closely,

you’ve probably never heard of it.

The answer is Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic

biology foundry that tinkers with the genes in

microorganisms to produce new proteins,

scents, antibiotics, cannabinoids, and other

products.

The 11-year-old company, which has 280

employees and is based in the Seaport District,

is valued at about $4.8 billion, according to

PitchBook, a Seattle company that analyzes

and sells data on the private markets.

The next-most-valuable venture-backed

startup in Boston is Intarcia Therapeutics, an-

other biotech in the Seaport, which is valued at

about $4.1 billion, according to PitchBook.

Ginkgo is also the second-most-valuable VC-

backed biotech startup in the country, behind

Samumed in San Diego, which PitchBook says

is worth $12.4 billion.

PitchBook provided the figure as Ginkgo an-

nounced Thursday that it has raised another

$290 million from investors, bringing total

funding to $719 million.

Jason Kelly, Ginkgo’s chief executive and co-

founder, said the firm plans to use the cash to

expand its laboratory and buy more production

robots. Ginkgo occupies 100,000 square feet at

27 Drydock Ave. and expects to use another

120,000 square feet in the same building as it

grows.

GINKGO, Page B10

A divided Fed trims interest rates

Boardseemsunsure

justhowtokeepthe

economyhumming

Reeve Foundation seeks to start

fund to invest in research firms

Quickerresultsa

goaloftheventure

philanthropymodel

Most-valuable status

With$290mmoreraised,Ginkgo

becomesBoston’stopVC-backedstartup

MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS/1996

Christopher Reeve, and his wife, Dana. Paralyzed after a horseback-riding

incident, Reeve was a fierce advocate for people with spinal-cord injuries.

‘Sometimesthepath

aheadisclear,

sometimeslessso.’

JEROME POWELL, Fed chairman

2008

Ginkgo Bioworks founded

$290million

venture capital raised in new

funding round

$719million

total venture capital

raised

$4.8billion

value of the company

PHOTOS BY JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2015

Above, an automated fermentation platform at Ginkgo Bioworks inSouth Boston, The 11-year-old company manipulates genes in

microorganisms to produce new proteins, scents, antibiotics, cannabinoids, and other products.

JonChesto

CHESTO MEANS BUSINESS

The sport of kings is dead. Long

live the sport of kings?

Suffolk Downs, the last of New

England’s thoroughbred tracks, ended

live races this summer after holding

only a limited calendar in recent years.

It sure seemed like the end of an era.

Hold your horses, folks. Two racing

revivals are already being pushed, for

towns at opposite ends of the state:

Great Barrington and Wareham. Both

would need Beacon Hill’s blessing.

And now we have a third one, jock-

eying for position: The Massachusetts

Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Associa-

tion has teamed up with a group led

by John Grossi, a horse owner who re-

cently sold the Latitude fitness club

chain, to propose a $60 million project

in Rowley.

The proponents — Grossi and other

undisclosed investors using the name

Rowley Group LLC — say they have an

agreement to buy a roughly 280-acre

property off Route 133 in the North

Shore town. They plan to make their

case to the Rowley Board of Selectmen

for the first time Monday.

Grossi and his colleagues propose a

one-mile dirt track and a œ-mile turf

track for thoroughbred races. Crucial-

ly, they want rights to simulcast and

take bets for races at other tracks. But

theyshownointerestinslotmachines

or other casino accoutrements that

other track owners have sought.

So what gives? Isn’t horse racing

dying?

Each developer has specific reasons

for trying to buck the trend. But they

also share a motivating factor: the

Race Horse Development Fund, which

the Massachusetts Gaming Commis-

sion controls.

There was more than $14 million

in the pot as of August, with around

$1.5 million arriving each month,

from taxes at the state’s three casinos.

By far the biggest contributor: the

Plainridge Park Casino, the state’s sole

harness track/slot machine parlor.

Most of this money was supposed

to go to prizes in thoroughbred races.

But with the industry in decline, own-

ers of standardbred horses that run in

CHESTO, Page B9

There may

yet be

another day

at the races

Tworevivalsarebeing

pushed,atopposite

endsofthestate:in

GreatBarringtonand

inWareham.And

rivalsarejockeyingfor

position.

An engineer

calibrated a liquid-

handling robot at

Ginkgo.

STAT